My model train experience is young, even though I'm 52 years old, but of the three locomotives I own, my new MTH SD70ACe is by far the best and smoothest running. Your opinions may vary, and like I said, I'm new at this, but this MTH has impressed me greatly right out of the box. My first engine was a Bachmann. It does just fine for an entry level engine. A little herky jerky and requires quite a bit of power to get it moving but it's ok. Decided I wanted a BLI AC6000. Love the Paragon 2 sound, but my engine has always been herky jerky...I thought this would level out after a few hours of run time. So far it hasn't. It DOES have the power/torque though, and the sound is awesome. I had to have one the SD70ACe engines and my desire is to collect 5 of them that I have seen personally, so naturally I start off with one that I have NOT seen personally, lol. But anyway, right out of the box this MTH is supremely smooth and just looks elegant when it's moving down the track. The decoder has been a challenge for me but when this thing runs this smooth I'm willing to put up with a little frustration to learn this decoder. I think I'll be buying MTH from now on and I'm impressed enough to say so here on the TB. MTH has a new fan!
well everybody has their favorite , i currently have MTH BIG BOY ,A 4-12-2 & A 2-8-4 berkshire &union pacific 2-8-2 & an SD-70ACE all MTH & so far so good with me running them on my old layout the only real issue i had was the berkshire is acting funny so i put it back to factory reset rite now, will reprogram it later , but i also have athearn & atlas & bachmann, they run nice also , as mentioned above , its all about enjoying the hobby
I guess I could have worded my post differently because I did not intend in any way to insult any brands. I'm just impressed with how well the MTH is running, but I'm still running my other two locos...and yes, havin some fun. Now it's time to start getting serious about my scenery, but that will require taking up my layout and I'm just not ready yet. Still just enjoying running the trains.:happy:
I have Genesis SD70ACe and SD70M-2 with Tsunami sound. They are beautiful engines except some have the headlight bulbs sticking out too far which is noticeable if you are staring at a stopped engine. The handrails are delicate because of their fineness. I never gave MTH a look although I read the reviews. Two weeks ago, I bought a new MTH SD70M-2 with Proto Sound 3 for $90 that was apparently an overstock. This is one excellent engine. All the lights are LEDs (hey, Athearn, try them) and the sound, especially the F12 grade crossing horn signal is unbelievably real. The handrails and stanchions are metal, thin, and I am not worried about breaking them. The paint is crisp and sharp and the engine runs as smoothly as any engine I have owned in over three decades in this hobby. These MTH SD70s might be like peanuts: you can't stop at one! Bill McBride
Like Boxcab said above, whatever rolls your stone. I don't own any MTH diesels (I model the 1970s, so an SD70-type would be out of the question), but I have had good luck with the diesels I have, which range from Bachmann Spectrum to Atlas/Roco, Atlas/Kato, Athearn BB and RTR, and Lifelike Proto1000 and 2000 series. Oh yes, a couple of Front Range Geeps, which do quite nicely- one even has DCC and sound. My valued motive power may be someone else's pieces of crap, but hey, it's a big hobby, and whatever makes you happy is all good. :teeth:
That sounds like an incredible buy! Good find. I'm not that familiar with the MTH offerings, I assume they concentrate on current t- near current era locos, which is about 30 years too new for my railroad.
When I did N scale, I finally came around to the idea of Atlas and Kato as the only locos worth owning. A smooth running loki is where it's at. But now that i do HO I am into getting old engines for very little money, second hand, and tinkering with them. But I do understand your opinion about locos.
I'm glad its been a good expeience for you. Personally, I have chased too many of MTHs older engines over the layout for other members because the DCS decoder throttle jumped from notch 6 to WARP 6. The SDs haven't given us as many problems, but if they hit a bump in the 30yr old track just right, they'll shut down, and the only way you can get them to move is to actually start the locomotive again (function 4, I think...) its cool that you can't run an engine that's not on, but there's a time and a place for that, and soundtraxx handles it much better. I am curious to see if their DCC ready engines are as smooth rinning, though.
Well, with the recent re-direction of resources seemingly occurring at Mikey's Place, you may want to rethink what your costs might be. Basing long-term costs on a clearance isn't good. Just to give you an idea, from the retailer bulletin I received this morning: MTH HO Alco PA diesel locomotive New A-A sets include Lehigh Valley, Missouri Pacific and Nickel Plate Road. The model features a plastic body, die-cast metal chassis and Mars Light. Direct-current models cost $349.95; with Proto-Sound 3.0, $529.95; with Proto-Sound 3E+, $569.95. March arrival is expected. Now. Think about that. Two A units, not specified if both powered.....list at $570 plus shipping for all the bells and whistles. My old Athearn PAs were: Plastic bodies, cast chassis, headlight. You could buy a pair of DC models for 1/10 the cost listed here. Inflation? Maybe. Buy a Tsunami or QSI and plop it in....even having to figure out motor isolation.....and what would you be into them for? It's all about having fun, right? And if that's what you're having, do it with gusto! Dave
When I was looking for a steam engine; this is years ago mind you. I test ran the Lifelike, now Walthers, 0-8-0 as well as the first offering by BLI. I found the Life like to be very close in quality to the BLI pacific. I have never run a MTH, but you might want to check out the Walthers 0-8-0 as it is a fine loco with a smooth mechanism. And it is not very expensive compared to other top models.
